Training the next generation in Biotechnology

St. Georges Technical High School has a stellar St. Georges Biotech Open House Biotechnology Program and the program’s director, Florence Malinowski, M.S., is happy to share what her students are learning.

St. Georges students demonstrate Elisa Lab At the programs’ first Open House, students demonstrated a wide variety of lab techniques – from DNA extraction to Gel Electrophoresis to Chromatography.

The following are excerpts from an article by Edward L. Kenney about the open house published by the News Journal:

Students, mostly juniors who are looking for summer internships and cooperative employment opportunities, showed off their skills at eight lab stations as employers took the opportunity to talk with them about what they were doing.
Student demonstrates chromatography at St. Georges High School
Junior Gina Peirce, 17, worked with a mortar and pestle, crushing spinach leaves and removing the juice for analysis.

“We’re finding out different pigments that are in spinach,” said Gina, who does not know yet what career she would like to pursue. “A lot of people came to this station and asked about this. It’s a really good opportunity for companies to see what we’re doing here at St. Georges.”

The first class will graduate next year, so many of the students also are looking at higher education. Among the college representatives at the open house was Joan Barber, the chairwoman for the biology and chemistry department at Delaware Technical & Community College’s Stanton Campus, which offers associate degree programs in biotechnology and chemistry technology.

“These students would be wonderful for our program,” she said. “They would be very well prepared. They’ve had a lot of introduction to things that we would be teaching them at DelTech.”

Below are a series of comments from some who attended the Open House: